"You must be on your period”: Using smartphones and wearables to study changes in mental wellbeing throughout the menstrual cycle. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship for 2026/27 Entry, Department of Psychology Ref: 5643

Supervisors

Lead Supervisor:  Professor Gemma Sharp  - University of Exeter - Department of Psychology 

Co-Supervisors

Dr Jon Heron - University of Bristol - Bristol Medical School 

Dr Jennifer Lay  - University of Exeter - Department of Psychology 

Dr Jacky Boivin - Cardiff University - Psychology 

The GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP is offering up to 17 funded studentships across a range of biomedical disciplines, with a start date of October 2026.

These four-year studentships provide funding for fees and stipend at the rate set by the UK Research Councils, as well as other research training and support costs, and are available to UK and International students.

About the GW4 BioMed2 Doctoral Training Partnership

The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff (lead) and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers. Students will have access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of the four research-intensive universities, with opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary and 'team science'. The DTP already has over 90 studentships over 6 cohorts in its first phase, along with 80 students over 4 cohorts in its second phase.

The 122 projects available for application, are aligned to the following themes;

• Infection, Immunity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Repair

• Neuroscience and Mental Health

• Population Health Sciences

Applications open on 1 September 2025 and close at 5.00pm on 20th October 2025.

Please note that we may close the application process before the stated deadline if an unprecedented number of applications are received– check our website for details.

Studentships will be 4 years full time. Part time study may also be available.

Project Information

Research Theme:  Neuroscience & Mental Health

Summary:

The menstrual cycle can influence mental wellbeing for a variety of biological and psychosocial reasons, but high-quality data are lacking. This is an exciting opportunity to work with people that menstruate to co-produce and trial a cutting-edge smart technology method to collect real-time data on menstrual experiences. You will advance our understanding of the important intersection of the menstrual cycle and mental health and develop skills highly valued in research and the FemTech industry. 

Description:

Background: 

The menstrual cycle and menstrual experiences can substantially impact an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. Perhaps the most well- known example is premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a set of symptoms that occur in the luteal phase, including anxiety, low mood, and irritability, with a severe form being Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). However, menstruation can influence mental wellbeing in other ways and at different cycle stages, e.g. through physical discomfort, changes to behaviours, and social effects arising from stigma. There are many unaddressed or unanswered questions about the association between the menstrual cycle and mental health, for example: What biopsychosocial mechanisms increase risk of low mood and mental distress during certain stages of the menstrual cycle? And why do some individuals show large variability in their mental wellbeing within or between cycles? 

Previous studies have been hampered by a lack of high quality real-time data on mental health and menstrual symptoms throughout the menstrual cycle. However, smartphone apps and wearable devices like fitness trackers make it possible to collect quality, prospective, real-time data on physical and emotional states. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a cutting-edge method that involves collecting frequent data on experiences close in time to the experience itself, either actively (e.g. self-report of mood via a smartphone app) or passively (e.g. wearable sensors measuring physiological features including heart rate, temperature, activity and sleep). Innovative statistical models are needed to integrate and analyse these complex data to help researchers better understand menstrual cycle-related fluctuations in mental wellbeing. 

Research questions: 

1. How can EMA be used to collect high quality real-time data on mental wellbeing throughout the menstrual cycle?
2. How can EMA data be effectively integrated, analysed and visualised to provide insights into menstrual cycle-related variation in mental wellbeing?
3. How do mental wellbeing-related EMA measures vary in association with the menstrual cycle and menstrual characteristics? 

Aims and objectives: 

1. Co-produce a research protocol to collect EMA data on mental wellbeing throughout the menstrual cycle using existing smartphone app and wearable devices. Co-production will help keep participant burden low and improve engagement to minimize missing data;
2. Develop and evaluate an approach to integrate, analyse and visualise EMA data collected using the EMA protocol. Such an approach will involve mixed-effects models: a flexible and appropriate method of modelling longitudinal data, with repeated observations over time nested within individuals.
3. Recruit a main study sample and use the developed methods to collect EMA data over at least three menstrual cycles, and analyse within- and between- individual and cycle variability in mental wellbeing. The successful student will choose which concepts of mental wellbeing to study and which populations to focus on (e.g. people with particular menstrual issues, people with existing mental health issues like anxiety or depression, people in perimenopause, etc). Depending on their interest and existing skills, the student may choose to develop any one of the three aims in more detail, for example, conducting qualitative research with the co-production group, applying innovative AI approaches to analyse the data, building an R/python web-app to visualize results, or drilling down into specific biological, psychological and/or social mechanisms driving cyclical variation in mental wellbeing. Students may choose to tailor their PhD around their future career aspirations. The research provides an excellent opportunity to develop skills that are highly valued in the FemTech industry and to become one of only a few global experts in EMA based methods. 

Funding

This studentship is funded through GW4BioMed2 MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. It consists of UK tuition fees, as well as a Doctoral Stipend matching UK Research Council National Minimum (£20,780 p.a. for 2025/26, updated each year).

Additional research training and support funding of up to £5,000 per annum is also available.

Eligibility

Residency:

The GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP studentships are available to UK and International applicants. Following Brexit, the UKRI now classifies EU students as international unless they have rights under the EU Settlement Scheme. The GW4 partners have agreed to cover the difference in costs between home and international tuition fees. This means that international candidates will not be expected to cover this cost and will be fully funded but need to be aware that they will be required to cover the cost of their student visa, healthcare surcharge and other costs of moving to the UK to do a PhD.  All studentships will be competitively awarded and there is a limit to the number of International students that we can accept into our programme (up to 30% cap across our partners per annum).

Academic criteria:

Applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a first or upper second-class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualification gained outside the UK, in an appropriate area of medical sciences, computing, mathematics or the physical sciences.  Applicants with a lower second class will only be considered if they also have a Master’s degree. Please check the entry requirements of the home institution for each project of interest before completing an application. Academic qualifications are considered alongside significant relevant non-academic experience.

English requirements:

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements for the University of Exeter by the start of the programme. Please refer to the details in the following web page for further information https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/englishlanguagerequirements/

Please check the relevant English Language requirements of the university that will host the PhD project.  

Data Protection

If you are applying for a place on a collaborative programme of doctoral training provided by Cardiff University and other universities, research organisations and/or partners please be aware that your personal data will be used and disclosed for the purposes set out below.

Your personal data will always be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations of 2018. Cardiff University (“University”) will remain a data controller for the personal data it holds, and other universities, research organisations and/or partners (“HEIs”) may also become data controllers for the relevant personal data they receive as a result of their participation in the collaborative programme of doctoral training (“Programme”).

Further Information

For an overview of the MRC GW4 BioMed programme please see the website www.gw4biomed.ac.uk

Entry requirements

Academic Requirements

Applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a first or upper second-class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualification gained outside the UK, in an appropriate area of medical sciences, computing, mathematics or the physical sciences. Applicants with a lower second class will only be considered if they also have a Master’s degree. Please check the entry requirements of the home institution for each project of interest before completing an application. Academic qualifications are considered alongside significant relevant non-academic experience.

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements for the University of Exeter by the start of the programme. Please refer to the relevant university website for further information.  This will be at least 6.5 in IELTS or an acceptable equivalent.  Please refer to the English Language requirements web page for further information.

Please check the relevant English Language requirements of the university that will host the PhD project. 

How to apply

A list of all the projects and how to apply is available on the DTP’s website at gw4biomed.ac.uk.  You may apply for up to 2 projects and submit one application per candidate only.

Please complete an application to the GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP for an ‘offer of funding’.  If successful, you will also need to make an application for an 'offer to study' to your chosen institution.

Please complete the online application form linked from our website by 5.00pm on Monday, 20th October 2025.  Please note that we may close the application process before the stated deadline if an unprecedented number of applications are received– check the DTP’s website for details and updates

If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be notified from Tuesday, 23rd December 2025.  Interviews will be held virtually on 27th and 28th January 2026.  

Further Information

For informal enquiries, please contact GW4BioMed@cardiff.ac.uk

For project related queries, please contact the respective supervisors listed on the project descriptions on our website.

Summary